Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Waste Management

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Department for International Development programmes for development assistance must include measures to limit the global spread of plastic waste and other waste that degrades the environment.

lord bates: The UK Government is a global leader in protecting oceans and marine life and has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic waste (such as the carrier bag charge and ban on microbeads in rinse-off products).The Department for International Development already funds programmes that include measures to limit the global spread of plastic waste and other waste that degrades the environment, for example through the Global Environment Facility. The Global Environment Facility funds the Addressing Marine Plastics programme alongside other international waters, chemicals and waste programming. The Department is currently working with other parts of government to consider how to extend the impact of our work in this area.In addition, Department for International Development officials are required to identify environmental risks associated with each programme, and ensure that they are managed. The guidance does not explicitly cover plastic waste, but is intended to include the full range of environmental risks relevant to each programme.

Syria: Reconstruction

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government why international funds are provided for reconstruction in devastated cities, such as Mosul, in Iraq, but not for those in Syria.

lord bates: We will provide no support for reconstruction in Syria until a comprehensive, genuine and inclusive political transition is firmly underway. While the conflict is ongoing, our priority is to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid. The UK will continue to work with the UN and others to develop its plans for Syria following a national settlement of the conflict.In Iraq, the International Community is currently funding the UNDP’s Funding Facility For Stabilization which provides support for immediate repairs to housing, schools and utilities. Plans for the long-term reconstruction of Mosul and other liberated areas are currently being discussed by the UK with the Government of Iraq, the UN, the EU and the World Bank, who will set out their strategies at a conference in Kuwait in February.

Syria: Reconstruction

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to call for donations and other measures from the diaspora community in order to assist the reconstruction of Syria.

lord bates: While the conflict is ongoing, our priority is the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to those affected. The UK will only provide support for reconstruction once a credible, genuine and inclusive political transition is firmly underway.

Syria: Overseas Aid

baroness cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bates on 23 October (HL1710), which 16 Syrian councils have received funds; whether any of those councils are in areas controlled byextremist groups including Hayat Tahrir Ash Sham and Ahrar Ash Sham; what assessment they have made of whether those funds might be exploited by such groups; and whether they intend to suspend all such financial support.

lord bates: The DFID Strengthening Governance Structures programme, Tatweer, is currently supporting thirteen Syrian councils in Aleppo, Idlib, Rif Damascus and Dera’a Governorates. Three further councils have received support through Tatweer, but this is currently suspended. For security reasons and for the protection of staff DFID does not disclose which councils have received funding.DFID continuously assesses partners and has extensive controls in place to ensure money is used for its intended purpose and does not benefit extremist groups. Tatweer has field staff embedded within communities monitoring the ongoing conflict and the influence of extremist groups on local governance structures. Tatweer is clear with communities and local council members that any influence from extremist groups on councils will not be tolerated.DFID has suspended financial support to two local councils in Idlib where Hayat Tahrir Ash Sham has sought to influence or control councils. We have also suspended supported to a council in Dera’a due to intense fighting. No financial support was diverted in either case. Assistance is monitored continuously and the UK Government will withdraw support if there is reason to believe UK funding may be at risk.

Syria: Infectious Diseases

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to prevent further deaths from communicable diseases in Eastern Ghouta; and whether they intend to facilitate evacuation, if necessary by air, for acute medical diseases.

lord bates: DFID’s humanitarian partners are on the ground in Eastern Ghouta (as well as other hard-to-reach and besieged areas) providing life-saving food, protection, and healthcare including routine immunisation services against infectious diseases such as polio and measles. However, humanitarian access remains severely constrained.The UK continues to demand full and sustained humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta at the UN and at every opportunity, and we have called on all parties to take all feasible measures to protect civilians, and allow emergency medical evacuations.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Autism

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop a national autism and education strategy.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make local authorities commissioners of services for children on the autistic spectrum.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that schools are equipped to support pupils with autism to thrive.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools in England accept pupils with autism.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many teachers in England have received training on educating children and young people with autism.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that all teachers are trained in understanding and educating children and young people with autism.

lord agnew of oulton: The government welcomed the recent ‘Autism and education in England 2017’ report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA), which recommended the creation of a national strategy for autism. We will consider the recommendations of the report carefully, alongside those of other recent reports such as the attached ‘Lenehan Review’ of residential special schools. These reports will inform our plans for supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Officials are meeting representatives from the National Autistic Society in January 2018 to discuss the APPGA’s report. Local councils have a statutory duty, under the Children and Families Act 2014, to identify needs in their local area and to commission, together with partner agencies, services to support children and young people with SEND and their families. This includes services for children and young people with autism. These services must be included in each council’s ‘local offer’ of available services, which must be reviewed regularly, in consultation with local families, taking their views into consideration. The department has funded the Autism Education Trust (AET) since 2012 to deliver autism training to early years, schools and post-16 education professionals in England. The AET has now trained more than 150,000 education staff. This includes head teachers, teachers and teaching assistants, as well as support staff such as receptionists and dining hall staff, encouraging a ‘whole school’ approach to supporting children and young people with autism. The department will shortly begin discussions with the AET to consider an extension to their current contract. The department published a new framework for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) content in July 2016. The framework, attached, includes specific content on SEND, including autism, and is available for training providers to use. This twin approach of ongoing work in schools to increase awareness of autism through training, while also ensuring that new teachers are equipped to support pupils with autism from the outset, is designed to ensure that children and young people can succeed in their education. The department does not hold data on the numbers of teachers who have been trained by the AET or who have been through ITT courses that reflect the new ITT framework.All academies and local authority maintained schools in England are expected to admit children and young people with SEND, including those with autism, whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. They cannot refuse to admit a pupil simply because he or she has a SEND. In 2016, there were 630 maintained special schools and 32 non-maintained special schools in England approved to make provision for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder. In addition, under the department’s free schools programme, there are now 29 special free schools open in England, including 17 which cater specifically for children with autism. These include the Rise Free School in Hounslow and the Lighthouse Free School in Leeds. A further 22 special free schools are due to open in future, 12 of which will specialise in provision for children with autism, including the Cumbria Academy for Autism and a second National Autistic Society free school, the Vanguard School in Lambeth. The other schools will offer some places for children with autism. In March, the government announced that it would make available £215 million of capital funding to support the expansion of existing provision as well as the development of new schools for pupils with EHC plans. 



Lenehan Review 
(PDF Document, 415.76 KB)




ITT content 
(PDF Document, 522.79 KB)

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the draft regulations placing(1) personal, social, health, and economic education, and (2) sex and relationship education, on a statutory footing, to be laid before Parliament.

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government which stakeholders they are consulting in respect of the placing of (1) personal, social, health and economic education, and (2) sex and relationship education, on a statutory footing.

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any LGBT interest groups are being consulted as part of the stakeholder engagement relating tothe placing of (1) personal, social, health and economic education, and (2) sex and relationship education, on a statutory footing.

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure that thethe placing of sex and relationship education on a statutory footing will be LGBT inclusive, as stated by the Prime Minister at the PinkNews awards in October; and what content they envisage will be included within the school curriculum.

lord agnew of oulton: Schools are bound by the Equality Act 2010, including the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), to ensure that education is accessible to all children and young people, including those who are LGBT. We are also clear that as part of schools’ duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, all young people should be provided with a curriculum that prepares them for success in adult life.The Children and Social Work Act 2017 requires the government to make regulations to provide for primary schools to teach relationships education and for secondary schools to teach relationships and sex education (RSE). The Act also provides a power to make personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) education mandatory in all state-funded schools.We have begun an engagement process with a wide range of expert stakeholders, including those representing the interests of LGBT groups, to help reach evidence-based decisions on the content of the regulations and guidance, as well as further consideration of the status of PSHE. Stakeholders include Stonewall, Terrence Higgins Trust, PSHE Association, Sex Education Forum, Barnardo’s, NSPCC and representatives of faith education providers. This week, we launched a call for evidence to gather the views of teachers, parents, and young people.Draft regulations and the guidance will be published for consultation in 2018. The regulations will then be laid alongside final draft guidance allowing for a full and considered debate in Parliament.

Pupils: Bullying

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to assist society in tackling homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

lord agnew of oulton: Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying is unacceptable and the government is committed to tackling it.Individuals who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, are disproportionately affected by bullying. Bullying can have a devastating effect on individuals, blighting their education and damaging their mental health.In September 2016, we announced a £3 million programme from 2016-2019 to prevent and address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in a sustainable way. This programme focuses on primary and secondary schools in England, which currently have no or few effective measures in place.We have published new cyberbullying guidance, attached, and an online safety toolkit for schools is available at: http://www.childnet.com/resources/school-pack-for-online-safety-awareness. Funded by government and developed by the UK Safer Internet Centre, these resources will help provide advice to schools on understanding, preventing and responding to cyberbullying.



Cyberbullying, Understand, Prevent and Respond
(PDF Document, 3.37 MB)

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Climate Change Convention

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have with local authorities regarding implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.

lord henley: The UK is firmly committed to the Paris Agreement and to our emissions reduction efforts under it. We are really pleased that many local authorities and their Mayors are already taking significant steps to implement the Paris Agreement, with over 30 signed up to international cities agreements like the Global Covenant of Mayors and London playing a leading role in the C40 cities movement. We are working closely with partner organisations like UK100 and APSE Energy to engage at official and political levels of local government. We announced as part of the Clean Growth Strategy, our Local Energy Programme. This builds on this work and is a joint programme with local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, combined authorities and community groups to understand local aspiration and action on low carbon and on climate change. This programme also announced the creation of a local energy contact group which will provide regular advice and input from these groups on departmental policy. We chair the national subcommittee for growth on sustainability which includes as members local authorities and oversees the funding through European Regional Development Funding for low carbon. We also work closely with Local Authorities on adapting to the impacts of climate change. The Local Adaptation Advisory Panel, which includes local authority representatives from city and county councils, is a forum for discussion on climate change adaptation between central government and local government.

Disclosure of Information

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Henley on 27 November (HL Deb, col 485), what precisely was revised in 1998 in respect of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

lord henley: The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 amended the Employment Rights Act 1996. It provided a right of redress for workers who are dismissed or suffer detriment at the hands of their employer because they ‘blew the whistle’ by making a protected disclosure. To ensure that whistleblowers have the confidence that a disclosure is effectively looked into the Government has recently introduced a duty for prescribed persons to report annually on the number of whistleblowing disclosures they receive. The duty will help to increase confidence in the actions taken by prescribed persons through greater transparency about how disclosures are handled. It will also help improve consistency across different bodies in the way they respond to disclosures.